Biden Administration Loans $1.2 Billion to Enhance EV Battery Supply Chain

To finance the construction of a new manufacturing facility in Indiana that will produce parts for electric vehicle batteries, Entek Lithium Separators is being offered a conditional $1.2 billion loan by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Battery separators, which function as membranes between electrodes in batteries to keep them from shorting out, are Entek's main product. The business plans to construct a new plant in Terre Haute, Indiana, that will have the capacity to produce approximately two million mid-size EV battery separators.

By "strengthening the U.S. lithium-ion battery cells supply chain," the DOE claims that its overarching objective with the loan is to enable the country to achieve its target of having EV sales account for 50% of all new vehicle sales by 2030. 

The DOE anticipates that 7–10 billion square metres of battery separator materials will need to be produced annually in North America in order to meet that target. One plant in Terre Haute, Entek's new one, will be able to handle 1.72 billion square metres of that amount per year.